Hug: U.S. journalist Glenn Greenwald (left) embraces his partner David Miranda (right) upon his arrival at Rio de Janeiro's International Airport following the 28-year-old Brazilian's detention at London Heathrow Airport

Ordeal: Glenn Greenwald (left) walks with his partner David Miranda (right) through Rio de Janeiro Airport on Monday

Mr
Miranda was held for nine hours - the maximum the law allows before
officers must release or formally arrest the individual - before being
released without charge.

SENIOR MP TO WRITE TO POLICE

Senior MP Keith Vaz is to write to the Metropolitan Police to ask why Mr Miranda was held and questioned by officers while travelling through Heathrow.

The chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee said the action yesterday appeared to be a new use of terror laws.

Labour
MP Mr Vaz acknowledged the police and security services should stop and
speak to people if they have proper suspicions - and said this could be
the case in this incident.

Speaking
on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Vaz said: ‘What needs to happen
pretty rapidly is we need to establish the full facts.

‘Now
you have a complaint from Mr Greenwald and the Brazilian government -
they indeed have said they are concerned at the use of terrorism
legislation for something that does not appear to relate to terrorism -
so it needs to be clarified, and clarified quickly.

‘What
is extraordinary is they knew he was the partner and therefore it is
clear people who are directly involved are being sought but also the
partners of those involved. Bearing in mind it is a new use of terrorism
legislation to detain someone in these circumstances... I'm certainly
interested in knowing.

'So
I will write to the police to ask for the justification of the use of
terrorism legislation - they may have a perfectly reasonable
explanation. But if we are going to use the act in this way... then at
least we need to know so everyone is prepared.’

But
the newspaper reported his electronic possessions including his mobile
phone, laptop, camera, memory sticks, DVDs and games consoles were
confiscated.

Writing in a blog on The Guardian
website today, Mr Greenwald said: 'It's bad enough to prosecute and
imprison sources. It's worse still to imprison journalists who report
the truth.

'But to start
detaining the family members and loved ones of journalists is simply
despotic. Even the Mafia had ethical rules against targeting the family
members of people they felt threatened by.'

Shadow
home secretary Yvette Cooper insisted today that 'swift answers' are
needed as to why Mr Miranda was detained for nine hours.

She said: ‘Any suggestion
that terror powers are being misused must be investigated and clarified
urgently - the public support for these powers must not be endangered by a
perception of misuse.

'The Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation,
David Anderson, has already warned of the importance of using schedule 7 of the
Terrorism Act appropriately and proportionately. The purpose of schedule 7 is to determine whether or not
someone is involved in or associated with terror activity.

'The Home Office and police need to explain rapidly how they
can justify using that purpose under the terrorism legislation to detain David
Miranda for nine hours. This has caused considerable consternation and swift
answers are needed.

‘The police and security agencies rightly work hard to
protect national security and prevent terrorism.

'But public confidence in
security powers depends on them being used proportionately within the law, and
also on having independent checks and balances in place to prevent misuse.’

While in
Berlin, Mr Miranda visited Ms Poitras, the US film-maker who has also
been working on the files of National Security Agency whistleblower Snowden with Mr Greenwald and The Guardian.

‘This is a profound attack on press freedoms and the news gathering process,’ Mr Greenwald said.

In discussion: British authorities used anti-terrorism powers yesterday to detain Mr Miranda, the partner of Mr Greenwald, who has close links to Edward Snowden

Revelations: Edward Snowden roiled American intelligence agencies and upended US relations abroad with his disclosures of highly classified programmes that allow the US to collect millions of pieces of data

‘To
detain my partner for a full nine hours while denying him a lawyer, and
then seize large amounts of his possessions, is clearly intended to
send a message of intimidation to those of us who have been reporting on
the NSA and GCHQ.

NO REASONABLE SUSPICION: THE TERRORISM ACT'S SCHEDULE 7

It is to determine whether that person is or has been involved in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.

Stopping an individual does not necessarily mean that the officer believes the person is a terrorist - in fact, it does not require any reasonable suspicion that they might be one.

Detention is permitted for up to nine hours before an arrest or release must be made. But last month the Government said the maximum detention period would be lowered to six hours.

An examining officer may require a person to answer questions or provide certain documents - and failure to do so may be considered an offence under the Act.

‘The
actions of the UK pose a serious threat to journalists everywhere. But
the last thing it will do is intimidate or deter us in any way from
doing our job as journalists. Quite the contrary: it will only embolden us more to continue to report aggressively.’

Mr Greenwald met Mr Miranda, an orphan who grew up in a slum, after watching him play volleyball on Ipanema beach in Rio around eight years ago. They moved in together just a week later.

According
to official figures, more than 97 per cent of examinations under
schedule 7 last less than an hour, and only one in 2,000 people detained
is kept for more than six hours.

Since June 5, Mr Greenwald has written a series of stories revealing the NSA's electronic surveillance programmes.

The
newspaper also published stories about blanket electronic surveillance
by Britain's GCHQ, also based on documents from Mr Snowden.

A
Guardian spokesman said: ‘We were dismayed that the partner of a
Guardian journalist who has been writing about the security services was
detained for nearly nine hours while passing through Heathrow airport. We are urgently seeking clarification from the British authorities.’

The Brazilian Government said in a
statement to the newspaper that Mr Miranda's detention was 'without
justification' - and it was 'gravely concerned' about what had happened.

Detained: David Miranda (left), 28, who lives with the reporter Glenn Greenwald (right), 46, was passing through London on Sunday on his way home to Rio de Janeiro from a trip to Berlin and was stopped at 8.30am

Outrage: Journalist Glenn Greenwald said that the detaining of his partner at London Heathrow Airport was an attempt to 'intimidate' following his reporting of Edward Snowden's NSA leaks

Widney
Brown, Amnesty International's senior director of international law and
policy, said: ‘It is utterly improbable that David Michael Miranda, a
Brazilian national transiting through London, was detained at random,
given the role his partner has played in revealing the truth about the
unlawful nature of NSA surveillance.

‘David's
detention was unlawful and inexcusable. He was detained under a law
that violates any principle of fairness and his detention shows how the
law can be abused for petty vindictive reasons.

‘There is simply no basis for believing that David Michael Miranda presents any threat whatsoever to the UK Government.

'This is a profound attack on press freedoms and the news gathering process'

Glenn Greenwald

‘The
only possible intent behind this detention was to harass him and his
partner, Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, for his role in analysing
the data released by Edward Snowden.’

She
added: ‘States cannot pass anti-terror acts and claim they are
necessary to protect people from harm and then use them to retaliate
against someone exercising his rights.

‘By
targeting Miranda and Greenwald, the UK authorities are also sending a
message to other journalists that if they maintain their independence
and report critically about governments, they too may be targeted.’

Labour MP Tom Watson called for
Parliament to look into what he said could be seen as an attempt to 'get
the genie back into the bottle' when it returns in September.

He
also questioned whether Home Office ministers were informed of the
move, which he described as 'clearly an embarrassment to the
Government'.

Concern: Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper insisted today that 'swift answers' are needed as to why Mr Miranda was detained for nine hours

'What I think
we are going to see is this is sort of the intelligence services
overstepping the mark - they are clearly trying to intimidate Glenn
Greenwald - and that's an attack on journalism,' Mr Watson told the BBC.
'I think politics needs to intervene to make sure it doesn't happen
again.'

'People are held for long periods, subject to strip searches, saliva swabbing and confiscation of property - all without access to a publicly funded lawyer'

'People
are held for long periods, subject to strip searches, saliva swabbing
and confiscation of property - all without access to a publicly funded
lawyer.

'Liberty is
already challenging this law in the Court of Human Rights but MPs
disturbed by this latest scandal should repeal it without delay.'

Nick Pickles,
director of privacy and civil liberties campaign group Big Brother
Watch, said: ‘This is a direct attack on freedom of the press and a
chilling reminder that our anti-terror laws are in desperate need of
reform.

Held: David Miranda was stopped by officials as he passed through London Heathrow Airport (file picture)

‘Whoever took the decision to have David
Miranda arrested and detained should be named and held publicly
accountable for this flagrant abuse of anti-terrorism laws.

‘The law David Miranda was detained under
provides powers to deal with those suspected of involvement with acts
of terrorism, not a licence to interrogate those with knowledge of the
activity of journalists.

'The only possible intent behind this detention was to harass him and his partner'

Widney Brown, Amnesty International

‘If a foreign government detained the partner of a British journalist, we would rightly be up in arms.‘Anti-terror laws have been abused for too long, undermine basic democratic principles and put huge unchecked power in the hands of security officials.

‘Parliament must demand substantial reform that does not allow this kind of episode to ever again stain Britain's reputation.’

A
Metropolitan Police spokesman said: ‘At 08.05am on Sunday 18 August
2013 a 28-year-old man was detained at Heathrow Airport under Schedule 7
of the Terrorism Act 2000.

‘He was not arrested. He was subsequently released at 5pm.’

TIMELINE: HOW EDWARD SNOWDEN EVADED PROSECUTION IN AMERICA

May 20: Edward Snowden, 29, arrives in Hong Kong, just after taking leave from his National Security Agency contracting firm Booz Allen Hamilton.

June 5: The Guardian, reports that the NSA is collecting the telephone records of millions of American customers of Verizon under a secret court order. Security experts say the records of other phone companies are also involved. Subsequent stories by the Guardian and The Washington post contain further surveillance revelations.

June 9: Snowden, who claims to have worked at the National Security Agency and the CIA, allows himself to be identified as the source of disclosures about the secret US surveillance programs. Snowden tells the Guardian his ‘sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them.’

June 10: Snowden checks out of his Hong Kong hotel, new whereabouts unknown. A day later, Booz Allen Hamilton says it has fired Snowden ‘for violations of the firm's code of ethics and firm policy.’

Asylum: A copy of a temporary document to allow Edward Snowden to cross the border into Russia

June 12: The South China Morning Post in Hong Kong says it interviewed Snowden at a secret location. ‘I am not here to hide from justice. I am here to reveal criminality,’ it quoted Snowden as saying.

June 14: British government issues worldwide alert to airlines, urging them not to allow Snowden aboard flights to the United Kingdom.

June 19: Iceland says a spokesman for secret-spilling organization WikiLeaks who claims to represent Snowden has contacted to government officials about a possible application for asylum.

June 22: Unsealed criminal complaint shows the US government has charged Snowden with espionage and theft, and the National Security Council says US officials have contacted authorities in Hong Kong for Snowden's extradition.

June 23: Snowden leaves Hong Kong on an Aeroflot flight to Moscow.

June 24: Snowden has a seat booked on an Aeroflot flight bound for Cuba, but is not seen on board. WikiLeaks officials say Snowden has applied for asylum in Ecuador, Iceland and possibly other countries.

June 25: Russian President Vladimir Putin says Snowden is in the transit zone of a Moscow airport and will not be extradited to the United States, adding that he is free to go anywhere. Without a U.S. passport, Snowden is effectively stranded. The White House says Russia has a ‘clear legal basis’ to expel the leaker.

June 27: President Barack Obama says he won't engage in ‘wheeling, dealing and trading’ to get Snowden extradited to the US.

July 1: Putin says Snowden will have to stop leaking US secrets if he wants asylum in Russia - which he says is something Snowden doesn't want to do.

July 2: Wikileaks says Snowden is seeking asylum in 19 more countries, including China, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and India.

July 3: A plane carrying Bolivian President Evo Morales was rerouted to Austria after various European countries refused to let it cross their airspace because of suspicions that Snowden was on board. European nations later apologize.

July 5: Wikileaks says Snowden has put in asylum applications to six new countries, which it does not identify. The next day, the presidents of Nicaragua, Venezuela and Bolivia say Snowden is welcome in their countries.

July 12: Snowden meets activists and Russian officials, says he is willing to stop leaking secrets about US surveillance programs if Russia will give him asylum until he can move on to Latin America.

July 16: Snowden asks his lawyer to submit a request for temporary asylum in Russia, claiming he faces persecution from the U.S. government and could face torture or death.

July 26: US Attorney General Eric Holder tells the Russian government that the US will not seek the death penalty for Snowden.

August 1: Snowden leaves airport after Russia grants asylum for one year.

August 18: David Miranda, partner of Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who broke the story about Snowden, is held for nine hours at London Heathrow Airport under anti-terrorism laws.